The growing use of electronic commerce as a customer marketplace has led to a greater need for appropriate customer return methods. In the absence of conveniently located retail stores, the customer needs an acceptable method of returning goods. Various “reverse logistics” systems have been developed to meet this need. These systems are a subset of the growing industry of “supply chain management” systems, and are designed to help merchants manage customer returns.
For returns, as opposed to forward deliveries, the typical returns process requires the customer to take the package to the carrier and pay shipping costs. As an alternative to customer-paid shipping, some merchants have turned to a merchandise return service available from the United States Postal Service (USPS), which permits the customer to use an addressed and prepaid merchandise return label. The customer may deposit the package at any post office or in a mailbox, and postage is paid by the merchant. The merchant decides the ultimate return shipping cost to the customer, such as by deducting that cost from the customer's credit.
Existing merchandise return service methods, such as that offered by the USPS, although convenient for the customer, can be costly and time consuming for the merchant.